Between 1996 and 2014, Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Sprajc led a project to explore a large part of southern Campeche state for INAH, the National Institute for Archaeology and History, which oversees all archaeology in Mexico. The remote area had been set aside as the Calakmul Biosphere Preserve in 1989 to protect its natural wonders as well as numerous Maya ruins. It covers some 2,800 square miles, ranging north from the border with Guatemala, crossing the east-west Yucatán highway, and into the Yucatán interior. The great Maya site of Calakmul, perhaps the largest of all the Maya cities, is in the center. Largely unexplored by archaeologists, it is a huge area with numerous ruins in a tropical forest with very few primitive roads and almost no people.
Sprajc’s mission was to explore, map, and document the Maya ruins in the preserve. This volume is the story of this amazing adventure. Almost all of the work was done on foot with the aid of machetes and local helpers. Sprajc found dozens of Maya ruins, big and small, that were unknown to science, a vast store of information for archaeologists to study for years to come. Sprajc was often not the first to see these ruins—many have suffered at the hands of looters, making their preservation even more urgent. But he did discover giant pyramids, impressive compounds, and amazing carved stele.
This is a memoir of adventure, danger, frustration, and satisfaction. Sprajc tells of encounters with poisonous snakes and plants as well as hostile locals and wary local law enforcement. Encounters with looters was always a danger. Not since Stephens and Catherwood explored Maya ruins in the Yucatán in the 1840s has there been such a mesmerizing narrative of Maya exploration.
In addition to being an adventure thriller, this volume is a chronicle of Maya archaeology as seen in unexcavated and unknown ruins. It is told for the lay person in a personal and engaging style that often reads like an Indiana Jones novel. Richly illustrated with 110 color photos, it is fun and easy to read while still being packed with information.
